Journey Through the Darkness
by DemonHipsterChick
Summary: Patience always liked the mysterious aspect of horror stories, but when she finds herself in a similar situation, she realizes that it isn't as wonderous in reality. Now, she must brave all sorts of terrors just to get out alive. Amnesia: Justine *HIATUS*
1. Chapter 1: A Painful Awakening

**Okay, so, I'm trying to write a longer multi-part Amnesia: Justine story for all you folks who really dug my oneshots. It will have Malo in it later with Patience, but probably not for a while. I do not want to rush into any lovey dovey anything in this particular story. It will probably have kind of a high rating for gore and stuff…seeing as this **_**is **_**Amnesia we're talking about. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy, happy reading! :]**

The first thing Patience noticed was pain. A distinct aching sensation consumed her entire form; body and mind. It hurt her to think and it hurt her to breathe. Such simple things caused her so much pain that she was reluctant to even consider something as small as opening her eyes.

"What…what is going on? Is this a dream?" she thought; cringing. The pain seemed much too real to be the result of a mere nightmare however. Growing restless and unable to continue lying there and doing nothing; Patience forced her eyes open. Her vision was terribly blurry at first. She couldn't make out anything of significance around her; all that appeared to surround her was shadowy masses of varied size. She tried to blink away the fuzziness but the effort seemed futile.

"Why can't I see straight? What happened to me?" Patience wondered helplessly; shutting her blue eyes once again. After what seemed like an eternity she opened them again. To her surprise, she could see her surroundings more clearly this time.

She was relieved to realize that she hadn't lost her eyesight; but her slightly uplifted mood quickly sank once again. She was staring up at a damp, stony ceiling; nothing like the warm cream color she was used to waking up to in her own room. It clearly was not the sight she had expected to wake up to…and the sheer unexpectedness of it showered her with unease.

"What the…?"

With painful effort, Patience moved her head to look around herself better. What met her eyes filled her up to the brim with dread. There were slimy stone walls that surrounded her on three sides. One held a metal attachment and chains with restraints. A wooden make-shift bed was sitting in a far corner accompanied by a rickety looking table. A fancy looking contraption of brass and wood sat in the corner opposite the sketchy furniture. On the other side of her was a row of rusted metal bars. A door could be distinguished from them; and a huge padlock with a rope was located on the other side of it.

Patience felt her heart jolt harshly in her chest. What was this place? Was it a prison? What had she done without knowing? Or, what had been done _to_ her without her knowing?

"Where am I? What is going on here? Where am I?" she thought frantically. Her thoughts were racing like a whirlwind. She furrowed her brow as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly; trying her best to reduce the pain that was ripping at her mind once again.

"This is a dream! It has to be! I just need to wake up…wake up, wake up!" the hissed to herself. She pinched the inside of her elbow; but to no avail. She opened her eyes to find the same disturbing room. She frantically pinched and pinched her fair skin until a small trickle of blood formed; and indication for her to stop.

Reluctantly she realized that this horrid situation was no dream. The cruel realization made her heart race like the wings of a humming bird. A cold sweat began to form itself on her pale, exposed skin as she started to panic. The sudden sight of what she was wearing only made her anxiety worse. She was stripped down to nothing but her white linen undergarments and stockings. They had already been sullied by the dirty, damp floor she was resting on.

Patience willed herself not to scream. Who had done this to her? What other harm had they caused her?

Unable to stay still, Patience slowly pushed herself upright. Her body screamed in pain as she did so; but she did her best to ignore it. She curled forward as her head swam with the sudden movement. She tried to take slow, deep breaths to relax; but her lungs rattled and stung slightly as she did so. Swallowing her pain; Patience boldly tried to stand up.

Her pale, thin legs shook so violently at the effort that she nearly tumbled back to the floor. Finally standing erect, Patience tried walking. Her cold feet stumbled over one another and she pitched forward. She narrowly missed wiping out by grabbing the bars of her cell. The rough, rusty material scraped her fair palms as she swiftly grabbed a hold of them. She gasped quietly in pain and stayed still.

It took her a while to even dare to attempt more movement. Slowly she shuffled over to the odd machine in the right corner of her cell. She stood over it with an expression of curiosity and fear.

"Is this a…phonograph?" she thought. Patience leaned over a bit to inspect it further. There was a hand crank on one side of the elevated wooden base. The crank was attached to a rope connecting to the padlock on the barred door. Patience raised a brow and peered into the huge bronze flower-like part on top. It was dark inside…and there didn't appear to be any strange finds there. Patience based her assumption on sight alone…for there was no way she was going to reach a hand inside.

Patience reached for the crank; but stopped before actually touching it. Her delicate hand hovered over the crank for a few seconds as she contemplated what the consequence of using it would be.

But, you know what they say, 'curiosity killed the cat'. In the midst of all her fear, Patience's mind was much too inquisitive to just let this go. She had to crank it and see what would happen…it couldn't make the situation she was currently facing any worse, right? Besides, why was it attached to the rope and the padlock? Perhaps it was a way out…A rather unique and cryptic way out, but a way out none the less.

Patience sucked in a breath of the cold, musty air and bit back a cough as she gripped the crank. She turned it one, two, three…six times. As she was about to continue turning a voice suddenly sprang from inside the phonograph. Startled, she stumbled back a bit and let go of the handle. She listened to the voice in awe. She had heard of these contraptions but never actually witnessed a working one…it was so strange.

"Bienvenue my young mademoiselle! You are now listening to the sound of my disembodied voice! It'll do you no good to look for me; for this is only a recording. I myself am located elsewhere. But that is not important to you right now. What is important is why you are here. You've been wondering that yourself haven't you? Well wonder no more, mon amie! Your purpose is to contribute to my study of the human psyche. There are many obstacles waiting ahead for you. Try to keep a level head…though it may not be very easy. Remember, they can all be saved; but will you bother to try? Good Luck, au revoir! " The phonograph spoke. The voice from within sounded hollow and far away. It was a woman's voice…a very familiar woman's voice. But Patience couldn't quite put her finger on whom it belonged to. Something about the woman's all too cheery tone mixed with her words made Patience very uneasy.

A chill slid its way up and down her spine as the message crackled and ended. What did the woman mean by 'study of the human psyche'? Or 'there are many obstacles waiting ahead for you'? Or 'they can all be saved'? Patience clutched her head, long fingers burrowing themselves in her waves of ebony hair, and tried to calm down. Nothing was making any sense…why was this happening?

She inspected the phonograph one last time before moving on to the bed and the table. She shakily lifted the thin mattress and peered at the bare bed frame beneath. Nothing. She peeked under the table and on the floor surrounding the two pieces of furniture. Still nothing. Assuming that there wasn't anything of importance left for her to find in the cell; Patience tried her luck at opening the door again.

To her surprise it swung open with ease. A loud creak echoed through the outside room as it opened. Patience wrinkled her nose at the sound and gingerly stepped out of her confinement. The room beyond the prison cell was much larger and had pillars going up to the ceiling. Wooden boxes and barrels were strewn about the space randomly and there was a large wooden patch of floor and a trap door in the center of the room. A long table was laid out against one wall with a chair or two; but the rest of the room was bereft of furniture.

Patience noticed more cells like the one she had woken up in lining the outskirts of the space. The only light was provided from a few dim hanging lanterns placed along the walls. Patience squinted her blue eyes as she peered around; unsure of what to do. She wanted to explore and find a way out…but she wasn't looking forward to any of the 'obstacles' she would come face to face with. Who, or what, might be lurking around ahead of her? This seemed very much like a scene out of a horror novel…and she was likely to be the victim of some unknown terror later on.

Patience shook her head. She didn't want to think about that now; this place gave her the heebie jeebies enough as it was without letting her imagination run rampant. She softly tiptoed out into the open and peered around. Deciding to be brave, she went over to another one of the cells and peered in past the bars. There didn't appear to be anyone in there…and there was no lock to keep her out. She gingerly eased the door open with minimal creaking and stepped inside. It was nearly identical to her cell except for the haphazard arrangement of the furniture. Upon further inspection, some of the stones in the walls were pulled out. The spaces where they had once resided were stained with blood. She spied a hammer and a few other tools on the floor. Furrowing her brow, she inspected the hammer. Something inside told her not to touch it, so she left it there.

Patience cringed inwardly at the sight of the crimson liquid and odd tools and quickly exited the cell. She moved on to the next one. It was also unlocked and easy to enter. It was fairly neat and the only extra item was a black leather bound bible resting on the bed. Patience flipped through it quickly incase her captor had left any clues in there for her…but there was nothing out of the ordinary. She placed it back where she found it and moved on.

The next cell seemed a bit colder and darker than the other ones. Patience didn't like the feeling she was getting from the particular space and opened it with extreme caution. She gasped loudly and covered her mouth as she stepped inside. Splotches of blood and chunks of what looked like raw flesh littered the stone floor. The furniture was all flipped over and pushed to one side of the room as well. Patience felt the burning sensation of bile rise in the back of her throat at the gory sight. She turned to leave; but something else caught her eye. In a pool of shadows at the far edge of the cell sat a violin. Something about it demanded her attention so she walked towards it, warily stepping over the stains blood. She bent down and picked it up. She turned it over in her hands and examined it. It was a bit scratched up but appeared to be from a master craftsman. It was beautifully carved and looked very professional.

Something about the violin seemed eerily familiar…but Patience didn't know why. Her head was still a bit fuzzy and she couldn't think very straight. She put the instrument back down gently and rushed out of the cell; closing the door behind her.

As she was about to check the next cell; a voice sounded from out of nowhere.

"Hello? Who's there…is anyone there?"

Patience jumped, nearly launching herself into the ceiling as a shriek caught in her throat. Where had the voice come from? She whirled around but no one was there. Was she hearing things? Patience began to sweat again as she thought about the possibility of running into some unknown person. Would they prove to be friend or foe? If they were even there at all… Perhaps fear was just getting the best of her?

"Hello? I swear I heard someone…please tell me who you are! Perhaps you can help me!" the voice called out again. It was a male voice with a slight French accent. "If you could help me, I would be much obliged."

Patience was silent a little while longer before deciding to try and help the mystery person out. They sounded so desperate…she'd be heartless not to at least find out where they were and assess the situation.

"Well…m-my name is P-Patience Scattergood…who are you?" Patience called blindly; not knowing where she was calling out to. She peeked into another one of the cells and gasped. A man was lying on a table. He was tied up and a sack was covering his head.

"I am Dr. Victor Fournier. I'm afraid I've been trapped in here…are you in the same situation as I?" The man said. Patience could see him wriggling in his restraints within the chamber. Who had done this to him? Was it the same person who had imprisoned her? The woman from the phonograph? And why was he tied up when she hadn't been? Things just seemed to be getting more and more confusing…

"Um…I suppose I might be…I honestly do not know what is happening here; but, I was stuck in a cell like you only moments ago!" Patience replied. She suddenly realized just how awfully her hands had begun to shake. She clasped them tightly together as if in prayer to calm the tremors.

"Really? My, how did you escape?" this Dr. Fournier seemed thoroughly impressed.

"Well…I wasn't tied up like you. I'm not sure why though…but there was some sort of pulley-like system connected to the door and a phonograph in my cell. I cranked the phonograph and it somehow opened up the door."

"Oh? How strange…alas, I do no think that will work for me. Is there a key out there? Or something to break the lock?"

"H-hold on…I'll check." Patience vowed. She hoped that she could find some way to release the man…he must be so frightened; being all tied up like that. If she had woken up in restraints…well, Patience quickly tried not to dwell on the extra horror she would have felt. She needed to focus on helping out Dr. Fournier at the moment; nothing else.

Gingerly stepping around the large room, Patience searched every available spot with her sky hued eyes. She went over to the long table and searched on top of it and then under it. She couldn't see anything that could be used as a means of help for the imprisoned stranger. All she found was a glass bottle with nothing inside. Drat.

Patience continued her search in the remaining cells that she had yet to venture into. The first one held nothing of importance. It housed the same creepy, old wooden furniture as the others and no distinguishing differences or objects that could be useful. There was so much furniture…but surely Patience wouldn't be able to move it all by herself, and it was all too big and bulky to be used in breaking the padlock.

Hopefully the last cell she had not checked contained some sort of clue as to how she could help the doctor. She wanted to let him out before she ventured off to any other parts of…well, _wherever_ she was, so that she had a companion. Going it alone sounded close to unbearable. Patience had always been a fan of dark, gothic stories and plays…but now that she appeared to be in an akin situation; it was no longer so deliciously mysterious and fun.

She stepped inside and looked around. The furniture was all moved up against the walls and to the edges of the room. The odd layout left a wide space in the middle where the dingy floor was scattered with what looked like hay. Patience's attention was soon caught up by the top of the table near the entrance. She leaned over to investigate and quickly reeled back against the other wall. Scrawled crudely in what looked like blood were the words 'forgive me'.

Patience coughed and felt weak. The words were so haunting…especially considering the substance they had been written in. Who had been stuck in this cell? Was that their blood? Who was the message directed to? Were they still alive somewhere?

Groaning, Patience sank down the wall a bit. So many questions, and yet, no answers. Her mind was getting to be a mess.

"Why is this happening to me?" she thought. Her move to France was supposed to be a grand and exciting change in her life! She had moved there exactly one year ago at the age of eighteen to start anew and see what the beautiful country had to offer. She had said goodbye to her family in her native England and set off for what she hoped to be a wonderful, and possibly romantic, adventure. Everything had been fine up until now. She had explored, met new people and even gotten a good job! But now…her whole life seemed to lie in unexplainable tatters.

"What am I to do? I need to find a way to…" Before Patience could finish her thought, an odd sound met her ears. She looked up and strained to listen. It sounded like wheezing and labored breathing. Where was it coming from? The ominous sounds continued and Patience bravely peered out of the cell to investigate. Whatever she was hearing, it didn't sound completely human. For once, she actually hoped she was just hearing things; she didn't want to come face to face with whatever was making that awful noise.

A strangled scream clawed its way to escape from her throat as she saw the source of the sounds. It appeared to be a…person? She wasn't absolutely sure if the figure that met her eyes was all _there_. Upon closer inspection, Patience realized that the figure was naked…and most definitely _male_. He had long, tangled hair that at one time must have been blonde. The being walked with a pronounced limp as he stumbled around the main room. It was too dark and shadowy to see much of his face. The sight was just too horrible to look away from.

Eventually, Patience tore her gaze away from…whoever,_ or whatever_, the frightful being was. She tucked herself away in the corner of the cell and prayed that she would not be found. Being too scared to go or call out, she hoped that the doctor would be safe as well.

"Please don't find me…don't find me, don't find me!" she repeated desperately in her head. Her heart was beating so fast that she was afraid it could be heard from outside of the cell.

"Is that you…my love?" a hollow sounding voice called out from outside of her hiding place.

Patience's breath caught in her throat. Was…was that the strange figure speaking? He sounded so haunting and sorrowful…the mere sound of his inquiry tugged violently on Patience's heartstrings. She didn't know quite what to think of all this…her entire being was a tangle of odd emotions and dire questions. She wouldn't be surprised if she simply had a _coronary_ before anything else. Luckily, she didn't hear Dr. Fournier say anything and assumed that he had the same idea of staying quiet.

"Oh….why did this _happen_?" the same voice said more quietly. It seemed familiar…but Patience could not for the life of her figure out why. There were so many blank and fuzzy spots blocking out certain thoughts from her mind. She had the strange feeling she had heard that voice somewhere before… "Come on…think!" she told herself.

She continued to sit there, frozen in her hiding spot, and unable to move. A small flame of curiosity burned within her. It was hard for the flame to survive though, for every time it nearly flourished a part of her would snuff it out to a flicker. She wanted to see what that being was, but she was too scared. What if it was another person who just needed help? Patience had always had a sweet and helpful nature, even towards strangers, so it was hard for her not to immediately see what the problem was, and if she could be of assistance.

She steeled herself to take another peek. It took everything she had not to let out a bloodcurdling scream at the sight before her. All that escaped her lips was a small squeak that she hoped wasn't too audible.

The figure was closer to her now. She could make out a sea of bloodied lacerations covering his form. They varied in size and depth…but they were all equally gory and horrifying to look at. The worst was a big 'X' shaped one across his chest.

Patience felt her stomach churn further as she noticed dark sockets where his eyes should be. They had been…gouged out? Dried blood caked the empty spaces.

"Oh…oh my God!" Patience said breathlessly, her voice cracking. She scuttled backwards away from the entrance.

This seemed to get the being's attention. Though he couldn't see her, he could hear her erratic movements. He stumbled towards the cell's door.

"N-no!" Patience screeched as she tried to get away. Since he couldn't see her, perhaps she could make it past him. He was skinny and frail looking…it was likely that he wouldn't be able to run after her very quickly. But would she be able to go through with that plan? It didn't seem so…her muscles had seemed to quit functioning properly as she stayed down against the far wall.

"What do I do?" she thought frantically. Dr. Fournier couldn't help her…no one could. Was this the end of her already? She hadn't even been able to help one person…was this one of the obstacles the phonograph had told her of? Or possibly…one who could be 'saved'? She wasn't sure…she would just have to wait a moment and see…he was almost inside of the cell with her.

"Is that you I hear?" he spoke again. Patience wondered who he was referring to….it sounded like he was hopefully searching for someone. What had happened to him anyway? Had he been a prisoner down here too? He looked much, much worse off than Dr. Fournier or she. Why?

"You came for me!" he continued.

Patience tried to stay calm and quiet, a task she was not sure she could successfully complete.

The man touched the doorway and gingerly felt his way inside. He was coming closer…closer…Patience could smell the stench of blood radiating off of him. She opened her mouth to cry out, but nothing happened. If this being had bad intentions towards her, there was no hope for her. She was trapped, again.


	2. Chapter 2: A Shocking Encounter

**Aww yeah, installment number two! I just love Amnesia…I don't even know why. It's just great…in a dark and super creepy way. Anywho, I hope you all like chapter two. I will be changing some things around soon that are quite unlike the original story. Nothing that really pulls away from the Amnesia: Justine feel…but just some extra obstacles for poor little Patience to go through that I want to add. Also, this whole story is kind of like if Justine put Patience down there instead of herself, or before herself…that is why the people that are possible to save are the same. Just thought I'd let you all know…enjoy!**

Unsure of how to evade such a horrific and unexpected situation, Patience could do little more than sit there in fear and wait for whatever was to come. If she could come up with a last minute plan she would need to do it very soon…and with her fuzzy and muddled thoughts, that didn't seem too likely. Her heart felt like it was about to leap straight out of her throat as a cold sweat dripped steadily down her face.

As the being reached out a blood stained hand towards her she involuntarily shut her eyes tight and gritted her teeth.

"I'm a goner!" she thought frantically. "I'm dead! Done for! Gone!"

Rather than the certain and unpleasant demise she had been expecting, the mutilated figure merely placed a hand atop her head. He ran his fingers shakily through her hair and traced them gently down her cheek.

The contact sent a parade of cold shivers up and down Patience's spine. She took a sharp breath in and held it; unsure of how to respond to this sudden action. What in God's name was taking place here? What was thing and why was it touching her like that?

"Oh Justine…I've missed you so much. I knew you'd come back for me…I just knew it!" The being said. His voice faltered and shook slightly with what Patience deciphered as desperate joy. He let out a soft, happy sigh and tried to lean in closer to her.

Patience did her best to pull away and put some distance in between them. She wasn't sure if she had gathered enough courage to speak...but she would have to try. She raised a shaky hand to push her ebony hair back behind her ear and let out the breath she hadn't known she was still holding.

"I-I-I'm n-not Justine…I-I don't know w-who that i-is…" she said shakily, hoping she would not anger this poor creature. Whatever he was, and as much as he filled her up with dread, there was an overwhelming aura of hopeless sadness that surrounded him. It made her want to cry for some inexplicable reason…but she did her best to hold back the sudden emotion.

Her name wasn't Justine…she was not the one he was searching for…right? No, her name was Patience. That was the name she had given the doctor earlier. As fuzzy as her mind seemed, she was still quite sure she remembered her own name. Justine just didn't sound right, Patience was it. But who was this Justine woman? A memory seemed to be attempting to claw its way to the front of her mind but to no immediate avail. Patience couldn't focus on what it was. For now, she would settle with the notion that she did not know anyone by the name '_Justine_'.

The figure reeled back a bit and stared at her a moment. Well…he would have been staring, had he any eyes. Patience shivered and bit back a gasp of disgust at the sight of the empty sockets. They were deep and dark and surrounded by dried blood. How had they been taken? Gouged out? Burned out? Patience didn't want to dwell too much on the possible options…it was too awful. Who could ever bring themselves to do such a thing?

"Wh-what? You're not…Justine? No! You _must _be! You've come to get me out of here! Right? You _have_ to be Justine!" The figure seemed pleading as he tried to make sense of the situation in the way he wanted. Desperation plagued his voice as he placed his hands atop his head in confusion. "You _are _Justine!"

He seemed more human than he had at first…the feelings of melancholy and blind hope that he gave off gave it away. He was no monster, no, but a poor, tortured human. Who was he, and who had dealt him this wretched fate? Was…was he someone who had been imprisoned down here too? Much like Patience and the doctor? Was that what was to eventually become of her too? No…no, she would not allow that to happen to her! She refused! She wouldn't even let it happen to Dr. Fournier.

"My…my name is Patience. You poor man, what atrocities have befallen you down here?" she asked gently, trying to hide the still present fear in her voice. Perhaps…there was a way to help him. He seemed far beyond it at this point, but it was worth a try. He was too painful to look at and just ignore…Patience would feel awful if she didn't do _something_.

"NO!" the man cried. "You can't be anyone else! I want Justine!"

Patience swallowed hard at the sudden outburst. Frustration began to seep into the man's voice.

"You're lying…I won't let you go!" With that, the man reached out quickly and tried to grab for her arm. For someone who couldn't see, he sure came close to snatching her…too close for Patience's liking. She squealed and rolled out of the way. She quickly got to her feet and gave the man one last look before running off. As bad as she felt for him, there was no way she would allow him to grab and trap her with him in that cell.

He must have heard her footsteps padding away across the floor because he turned his head her way and called out again, "No, Stay! Don't leave again…"

His sad voice nearly caused Patience to stop in her tracks, but she knew better. She didn't know exactly how desperate he was to capture her, thinking she was '_Justine_'. She didn't know what he'd do if he actually did get his hands on her…and she didn't want to find out either.

As she passed the cell holding Dr. Fournier she slowed a bit.

"Monsieur, I promise I will try to find another way out for you! I will try to come back, but now, I have to go!" she called out. "You should be safe behind your bars! I'll be back!"

She picked up the pace and sped out of the room before she could hear his response, for she had begun to hear the wheezing sound of the injured man behind her. She couldn't allow herself to be caught.

Patience shut the door that lead away from the cell filled room behind herself and looked around wildly. There were two possible routes she could take; both dark, cold and gloomy stone hallways. She didn't want to have to venture down either of them…but she had to choose quickly to get away.

"Uh…uh, the one to the right!" she thought hastily. She quickly made her way down the corridor only to find a large pile of rubble and rocks blocking her way. A broken ladder rested among them, but she didn't focus too much on the sad looking wooden structure. She stared at the obstacle with wide, crystal eyes and gulped.

"Oh no….no, no, no…" she said quietly to herself. There was no way for her to get over them, so she would have to back track. What if the injured man was somewhere back there searching for her? She was sure he had left the room after her…the longing in his voice for '_Justine'_ was too strong for him to give up so easily on finding her.

Patience stood flat against the wall and listened for the labored wheezing sounds he emitted. As she stood and listened, Patience tried her best to make some sense of the situation. Considering her less than perfect memory…it was a bit difficult.

At least she seemed to be gaining back some of her wit and intelligence. Her memory refused to cooperate, but she could think a bit more clearly about what had just recently happened. It was better than nothing.

The poor, mutilated man had said 'I've missed you…you came back for me' when referring to the woman he was waiting for. What exactly did that mean? Was she another prisoner who had escaped and promised to find him again? Had she escaped and never returned? If that was the case, then how heartless could she be to leave him there? Patience quickly vowed to herself that she would find a way to free Dr. Fournier. She didn't want to leave him so helpless…she felt bad enough about running out on him moments ago. The phonograph _had _said 'they can all be saved'. Did that refer to the injured man too?

Another possibility was that this Justine had tried to run away and been killed in the process. Patience hoped that wasn't the case…it would certainly put an extra damper on her own chances of survival.

Just then she heard a noise that made her jump. It was silent for another few seconds as she strained to hear the noise again. After what seemed like an eternity of painful, anxiety filled silence, the sound did not present itself again.

"Silly me…it was probably just a falling bit of rubble. This place is a wreck…where am I?" she thought to herself. Steeling herself to leave her hiding spot, Patience took a deep breath and stepped out into the hall again. She tiptoed her way back to the door she had come from to find the other corridor. A cool cloak of dread wrapped itself around her as she noticed that the door was open.

"That man must be out here somewhere…I'll have to be extra careful. He may not be able to see me, but he can hear my movement." She thought uneasily. She didn't want to run into him again, not yet. She needed to come up with a plan to face him again and not get trapped.

Feeling her way carefully along the wall, Patience did her best to make quiet progress. She made her way all the way down the hall without a glimpse of the man she was trying to evade. She sighed with relief, but quickly stopped as she realized she was at another dead end. How could this be? She was staring face to face with a taunting, stony wall. There was no other way for her to go.

"This isn't right!" she hissed through clenched teeth. She worriedly tried to feel each stone incase one moved and unlocked some sort of secret door. Nothing. Of course, something like that wasn't present here in real life…it only resided on her collection of fictitious novels.

She slowly turned to look behind herself. Fearfully, she retraced her steps once again. On the way back she made sure to inspect everything around her to make sure that if there was another passage, she wouldn't miss it. Unfortunately, she didn't make any promising new discoveries.

Feeling hopeless and trapped Patience sighed and tried to come to terms with her only remaining option. She would have to go back into the first room she had explored and look for a way out there. She didn't want to…but there wasn't really another figurative door to take.

She gulped and poked her head into the doorway. She cautiously looked around the room for any signs of danger. To her surprise, there was no sign of the mutilated man anywhere. Where had he gone off to? She hadn't seen him in the halls either…so how could he have possibly disappeared like that?

As nonsensical as it was, Patience wasn't really complaining. She stealthily made her way into the room and began her search for a passageway. Quickly making sure one more time that the man she was trying to avoid wasn't there, she tiptoed over to Dr. Fournier's cell. She breathed a sigh of relief to see the steady rise and fall of his chest as he laid there.

"Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?" she whispered as she grabbed the bars and got up close.

"Hello? Who's there?" he replied.

"It's me again…Patience."

"Oh, did you find a way for me to get out?"

"Regrettably no…there isn't much inside or outside of this room to find. I'm trying to find a way out for myself right now so that I can explore new places and find some sort of tool that might release you."

"Oh alright…be careful! Who was that that you were talking to earlier?"

Patience thought of her less than pleasant encounter that the doctor was referring to. "I'm not sure…don't worry about that right now. Do you have any recollection of what happened to you before you woke up down here?" She thought this would be a good time to do some sleuthing and try to start solving this twisted puzzle.

Dr. Fournier was silent a few moments before sighing. "Not really…my memory is quite fuzzy, I feel as though I've been drugged. Perhaps that's why I feel this way…do you feel the same?"

Patience thought about what he had said. It was surely a plausible explanation for her lack of memory…had they really been drugged? With what? And at the hands of whom?

"Yes…who do you think could have done such an awful thing?" Patience said, growing more and more uneasy.

"I haven't the slightest idea…perhaps when my memory returns I'll remember. All I want right now is to be released from these bonds. Please hurry and find a way out for me, then we can work on solving this together. We may not know each other, but two heads are certainly better than one." He sounded so calm…but Patience could still detect the slight desperation fringing his words.

"Yes, I promise I will try. Even if I do not immediately find a way to help, I'll try to return so that you don't think I've abandoned all hope for you." Patience couldn't imagine the hopelessness that he might feel should she disappear and not return to aid him.

"Merci, mademoiselle. I wish you luck…who knows what other terrible things are waiting out there."

The possibilities of what she would have to face plagued her with fear…but there was no avoiding it. "Yes, aurevoir for now." She said as she left the cell and went to search around the rest of the room. Quickly, she spied something she hadn't noticed before.

A lever stuck out of the wall near the door of the doctor's cell. Patience furrowed her brow as she moved closer to get a better look. It was slightly above her head and was in its upper most position. Perhaps it would open the cell door somehow…her door had opened in an unexpected and strange way too. Who said the way to open it _had_ to be a key or some lock-picking tool?

"Hold on doctor! I think I see a way to release you!" she said excitedly.

"Really? Well, have at it!" he replied hopefully.

Patience reached up and took hold of the lever. She pulled it down hard and waited for its effects. Nothing happened.

"What the…?" she mouthed. She looked around and nothing seemed different than it had before she pulled the lever. Odd…

She furrowed her brow again and scratched her head. "Maybe I didn't pull it hard enough…" she thought, gripping it once more. She pulled again, with more force this time, and waited.

She jumped a bit as she heard the doctor cry out from inside his cell.

She ran to the bars and looked in. "What? What is it doctor…oh Lord!" she placed her hands over her mouth and stared in horror at the sight before her. A large, sharp looking stone pillar had descended slightly from the ceiling above Dr. Fournier. The awful contraption was mere inches from piercing the flesh of his chest.


	3. Chapter 3: Inside the Torture Room

"What…what did you do?" he cried. "What is this thing? I can see it from the spaces in the weave of this sack over my head!"

"I, I don't know! There was a lever outside of your cell that I pulled thinking it would open the door! Just…don't panic! Don't panic I'll find a way to fix this!" Patience felt as though she was panicking even more than he was, and she wasn't the one who was about to be run through.

She bit her nails in nervousness and looked at the lever again. Perhaps if she pushed it up the other way…she doubted that it would be that easy but it was worth a shot. Pushing up on it shouldn't make it go down further…right?

She quickly pushed up again and winced, praying that she wouldn't hear the screams of the doctor being killed. She gingerly peeked at him through the bars. Nothing had happened. The strange contraption had stayed in place. It was better than stabbing him she supposed…but she still wished there was an apparent way to rectify the situation.

Patience frantically looked around herself for some sort of solution. Nothing seemed there to help her, but another minor difference caught her eye. A small part of a ladder was hanging from an opening in the ceiling. She squinted at it and bit her lip in thought.

"That wasn't there before…" she thought. Wait…had the lever made if partially fall? Oh dear God…to have the whole thing come down, would she have to pull the lever all the way and kill the doctor? Was that her only way out? What kind of sick, twisted place was this?

She didn't hesitate to push all thoughts of killing the man to free herself out of her mind. She would never be able to live with herself if she did something like that, she might as well just stay stuck in this room and die there. Then she wouldn't have any blood on her fair hands.

"Perhaps…I can climb up there somehow." She thought. The room was strewn with all sorts of boxes and barrels and chairs…she could stack a bunch of them and make her own way up to the opening.

"Monsieur, please do not worry. I don't think that thing will descend anymore as long as I do not try to pull the lever again. There are a lot of things out here that I can stack and climb up on to an opening I can see in the ceiling. Perhaps there is a way to free you up there." Patience tried her best to sound reassuring even though it was quite hard to do in the terrible situation at hand.

"It's hard to agree and say I will remain calm until your return…but I will try. Please hurry though; I doubt I can take this very long. My mind races and tells me this could fall at any minute!" Dr. Fournier said, his voice faltering.

Patience felt terrible that his newly refreshed fear was her fault.

"I will try!" she said. "I'll call to you when I've finished my tower and am on my way."

Patience sighed and looked around herself. She started by stacking the wider items on the bottom. She made a large, elevated platform of boxes as the lowermost layer. She then started dragging over a few of the empty barrels.

As she made her way across the room back and forth, she happened to look down and notice something. The large wooden patch in the middle of the floor was a trapdoor! She bent down to inspect it. She tried to lift it, but to no avail. It appeared to have been opened not too long ago, but it would not open for her now.

A quick idea popped into her head. Perhaps it was how the mutilated man from earlier had escaped. It didn't make a lot of sense how he, being so wounded and frail, could open it and she couldn't…but where else would he have gone?

Deciding the trapdoor was a lost cause, Patience resumed her stacking tower. She didn't want to go down there anyway if _he_ was there waiting for her.

After a while of sweat, re-trying her stacking methods and using a very colorful vocabulary under her breath, Patience had made a decent tower up towards the opening. She wasn't sure if it was quite tall enough, but it would have to do for she could not climb up any higher with additional material. She took a deep breath and began the accent to the top.

It was fairly easy at first, but as she got higher the tower beneath her began to wobble. Once she reached the top, her high hopes sank down again. There was no way she could reach up there; her tower was too short. Even if she managed to stand on her tiptoes, she wouldn't quite be able to grasp the ladder.

"Damn!" she cursed and climbed back down. Whoever had placed her down here really was intent on making her suffer. Was this all just so the mystery woman from the phonograph could study her 'psyche'? Who was she, and what on earth was wrong with her?

Patience found herself on the ground again as she tried to rework her plan.

"Have you made any progress?" Dr. Fournier called out.

"No…no matter how I stack these items the tower I build will not be tall enough for me to get up there." Patience could tell she sounded discouraged and cross…but she did not bother to keep the sour tone from her voice. Just then she remembered something she had seen in the stony halls outside the room. There was a broken ladder piece…could she use that somehow?

"Hold on, I'll be back." She said to the doctor before journeying out into the darkness again.

There were no lanterns in the halls…she had to rely on her night vision. Luckily her eyes had slowly been growing ever more accustomed to the darkness since she had woken up. She carefully made her way back to the rubble and found the ladder piece where she had last seen it.

Patience picked it up and hobbled back to her tower with it in her arms. It was a bit heavier than she had anticipated, and it was an awkward size and shape to carry.

"Ah!"She said under her breath. A few splinters of the jagged, dirty wood had made their way beneath her skin. She put down the ladder piece near the base of her stack of odd furniture and did her best to pick them all out. She only managed to get a few of them; the others were too fine and deep.

Patience winced but tried to ignore the feeling as she climbed up once again. There were two wooden hook parts at the top of the piece for it to hang off of something. It was a precarious and awkward climb to the top of the tower with the ladder piece under her arm, but she managed to do it without falling to the hard ground below.

Standing as steadily as she could, Patience held up the ladder piece with both hands and raised it up as high as she could. It took a few tries, but she finally got it to hook to one of the lower rungs on the portion of the other ladder that was already hanging from the opening.

"Yes!" she hissed in triumph. She hoped that the ladder was strong enough to hold her up for the few moments she needed it. She grabbed it tightly and hoisted herself up. She could hear the wood snap quietly under her weight but tried to ignore it as she quickly scrambled up into the opening.

She had done it…she made it into the opening! The ladder swung oddly below, but did not break. Hopefully it would still be there for her when she returned to help out the doctor.

"I've successfully made it up into the ceiling opening!" she called down the Dr. Fournier, hoping that there was no one else around to hear her accomplishment. She did not want to meet the injured man or anyone else like him up in the ceiling where it would be next to impossible to get away. She would have to be as careful as possible to keep herself safe in order to return later on and rescue the doctor.

"Good luck!" he called, the sound of his voice muffled by the distance.

Patience hardly hesitated before beginning the long crawl to find a new waypoint.

As she crawled through the ceiling-tunnel, Patience was forced to crawl on her hands and knees to avoid bashing her head. It was more difficult than she would have liked seeing as the surface beneath her was rough, cold stone and her knees were completely exposed. She could feel the dull pain on her skin with every scrape she received as she went along. She could already surmise how raw and torn up they would be once she was out…but she didn't want to picture that at the moment. She had to ignore the unpleasantness and keep going. It wasn't just her own life rested on her shoulders, but also the doctor's, and possibly the bloodied man she had run into earlier. She couldn't let anything discourage or slow her down.

Patience stalled a moment to catch her breath. The air in the narrow crawlspace was terribly musty and made it hard to breathe properly. She had never been claustrophobic…and this was not a good time to stop and find out if she was indeed afraid of small spaces.

A sudden cough racked her thin frame.

Her throat began to burn again and she forced herself to stop.

"Gah…this air is terrible…I hope I can at least make it out of the tunnel without choking. That would be unfortunate, and far too early a death."

Patience kept going despite her growing discomfort. What other choice did she have anyway?

As she went a loud and disturbing sound interrupted her, seemingly from out of nowhere. The gasping and wheezing moans from the injured man resounded eerily through the crawlspace. Patience stopped dead in her tracks as fear over took her. Was he up there with her? How had he managed to do that?

Frozen in place, Patience held her breath in mute terror. She considered retreating, but she knew that wasn't an option. She had to continue searching for a way to save the doctor.

"Oh God…please don't find me…" she whispered, tentatively continuing forward and dreading the sight of the injured man. There was no way she could escape him in such a small space.

However, as she kept crawling through the ceiling tunnel, there was no sign of him. The sounds had faded away and Patience had never come face to face with him. Where had he gone? Had he even been up there in the first place?

"Oh my…I must be hearing things. I can't go crazy this quickly! I thought I was surely better than that…" she sighed to herself as she continued on her dank journey.

Before too much longer she came to an opening in the floor of the tunnel. Narrowly missing taking a tumble through the hole without seeing it, Patience regained her composure and peered down. All she could see below was a stone floor and part of an oriental rug. It was a long way down and it didn't look like she could climb below safely. There was nothing to cushion her fall either. This was not looking good.

"Oh bugger…" Patience said under her breath. "I guess I'll just have to go for it and drop down…"

She took a deep breath and counted off.

"One…two…three!" she thought before throwing herself down through the opening.

Despite trying to stick the landing, Patience hit the ground with a dull thud. She let out a short cry of pain as she connected with the hard, stony floor. She could have sworn she heard something crack…but her entire body hurt so much that it was hard to discern the source of the noise.

She laid there for a few moments, face scrunched in pain, as she tried to will herself to stand up.

"I have to keep going!" she told herself sternly. "Whatever this is…it's nothing!" she slowly moved to stand up. As she got to her feet, she realized what had made the cracking noise. Her ankle throbbed as she tried to walk off the pain.

"Ugh…bloody hell! That hurts…" she seethed. She supposed that it wasn't much to whine about compared to the others she had run into…but it was still rather annoying.

Patience tried, with all her might, to ignore the sting as she hobbled around. The first thing she noticed as she tried to maneuver her way around the new space was another phonograph. She eyed it suspiciously and cranked the handle. Even after what must have been fifteen or sixteen cranks, there was still no sound emitted from the brass flower-like shape. Patience shrugged and turned on her heel. Since there was nothing behind the phonograph but another huge pile of rubble, there was no way for her to go in that direction.

She turned and tried to go the other way and stumbled until she found a wooden door. Swallowing hard, she pulled it open and peered inside.

She gasped. What met her crystal blue eyes was terrible and shocking.

It looked like a…torture room? There were all sorts of horrible and sharp instruments lying around on various tables; and a big table with restraints and a crank sat menacingly at the center of the room. There was a fire crackling in the large fireplace at the far end of the space too…had someone recently been in there?

Patience had no desire to enter the awful room, but something told her to chance it anyway. Perhaps one of the tools could be used to release Dr. Fournier. It was worth a try…even though the room gave her the creeps. It was no better to be safe than sorry…wait, was that really how the saying went?


End file.
